TW's specs are an average of several racquets. the difference in weight is probably due to the less than stellar quality control of wilson's frames. i think officially, they are supposed to weigh the same

I just received my Blade 98 (16x19) unstrung it weighed 10.7 ounces; strung 11.2 (just like TW says); and changing the grip to a pro hybrid it is 11.4 before the over grip. So my racket was spot on. It is an L5 (4 5/8) and only complaint was the grip shipped with the racket was soft and mushy. I like either leather or the older Pro Hybrid grips (more feedback).

I string 1 piece and with most Blade frames the mains end at the bottom of the racket and you string the crosses from bottom to top. With the new Blade the mains ends at the top and crosses go down the racket. Not bad to string, but a little different than the BLX 98 (18x20) and the six.one 95 series.

So far the racket swings nice, have a match today. I have been using the Blade 98 (18x20) series for a couple of years, and find them easy on the joints with good power and control.

Just ordered mine today! Should be getting 3 "Darth Vaders" in the mail next week. All strung with Big Hitter Black 17g @ 53 lbs. :twisted:

This stick will be the new PS 85. It has immense plow thru, power, yet plush on the arm like a VOLK PB 10or Becker DC London Tour. An instant classic. I hear from my Wilson contact that this will be Pete's new stick. He was playing with a Babolat PST 95 but wanted more weight... Wilson supposedly changed their BLX design with him in mind. Pete played in Philly last month and was using a blacked out 93 sq inch, tight patterned, Blade-look a like stick.

Just ordered mine today! Should be getting 3 "Darth Vaders" in the mail next week. All strung with Big Hitter Black 17g @ 53 lbs. :twisted:

This stick will be the new PS 85. It has immense plow thru, power, yet plush on the arm like a VOLK PB 10or Becker DC London Tour. An instant classic. I hear from my Wilson contact that this will be Pete's new stick. He was playing with a Babolat PST 95 but wanted more weight... Wilson supposedly changed their BLX design with him in mind. Pete played in Philly last month and was using a blacked out 93 sq inch, tight patterned, Blade-look a like stick.

I'm looking for pics to back this claim up...

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Pics would be nice. Can't find any.

Pete was/is playing with a blacked out PureStorm, with a 98sq.in. head size, a 16x20 pattern and weighted exactly like his old ps85s, balanced even as well. The PstLtd is indeed a 95, 18x20, but it's not the frame Pete was/is rockin'.

Just can't see Pete switchin' to an 18x20 pattern at this point. The Blade98, 16x19, maybe.

Waiting for some feedback on the new Blade 16X19. The specs look great, but was somewhat surprised by the relatively cool response from the play testers. Do you think people will like the higher SW of this racquet(for plow) or do you think it will be too much, as people seemed to complain about with the Head YT/Ig Radical Pro?

I honestly think the Blade is meant to be an 18x20. The 16x19 was made by Wilson probably since it is so popular they could make two versions and some people asked for a 16x19 pattern. It is still a relatively light stick and as a result, the spin with an 18x20 pattern is very high due to racquet head speed.

It trumps the Radical Pro by far for me. Far easier to swing and it's just a lighter stick in general. The YT Rad Pro really grabbed me when I first got it, but the SW was 345 (my blades are 331) and bugged my shoulder.

Waiting for some feedback on the new Blade 16X19. The specs look great, but was somewhat surprised by the relatively cool response from the play testers. Do you think people will like the higher SW of this racquet(for plow) or do you think it will be too much, as people seemed to complain about with the Head YT/Ig Radical Pro?

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I have been playing with the Blade 98 (18 x 20) for the last couple of year. I can honestly say the (16x19) has a lot more pop. Serves were much better with the new model, gained about 10 MPH. Only disappointment with the racket was volleying did not seem as sharp. Will give it a few more matches before deciding. Also the (16x19) seems a little stiffer, but no vibrations.
We played on clay today (2 ½ hours) and the courts were wet so difficult to compare ground strokes. This weekend plan a full workout practice session on hard courts.
The racket is one of the better looking Wilson frames, Black and Silver.

Has anyone tried the new 98 versus the H22 or H19? I am curious mainly because the new Blade 98 18x20 looks to get good marks on TW for arm friendliness, and the H22 has caused some people with arm issues some tenderness.

Can anyone compare the Prince Rebel 98 to the new Blade 98 16x19? I like the Rebel after demo but haven't had the chance to hit the new blade yet. I'm a 3.5-4.0 player, mostly flat hitter trying to gain some spin. Ive had some elbow issues so i like the feel of the Rebel. Should I wait to demo the new blade before I take the plunge?

Rebel 98 is softer, does not hit as big and has the annoying port hole grommets that are tough to string. All that aside, it is a great racquet with awesome feel and would probably sell as well as the blade if it had traditional grommets. The prince sticks are awesome but the port holes plus the low flex can be overkill imo.

Thanks PP. I have to say that the port holes don't really bother me. But full disclosure, I had been playing with the EXO3 Red 105. I was surprised that the flex was that low. it didn't play that way IMO. I did hit the old BLX 98, and didn't like the comfort. But most seem to feel that the new blade has more comfort. As much as Im wanting to pull the trigger, guess I'll wait to demo the new blade.

I saw the new blades at my local shop. Nice paintjobs, but the Tour paintjob is just plain awesome. I want to demo the 98, though I would need to throw on a gammi hi-tec grip or leather grip to add some weight to the bottom. Also, I feel like the 4 1/2 grip felt bigger than usual. Anyone notice this?

I saw the new blades at my local shop. Nice paintjobs, but the Tour paintjob is just plain awesome. I want to demo the 98, though I would need to throw on a gammi hi-tec grip or leather grip to add some weight to the bottom. Also, I feel like the 4 1/2 grip felt bigger than usual. Anyone notice this?

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Its because they changed from the hybrid pro grip. Id personally want to switch back if I got one.

I want to buy the new blade 98 16/19 or 18/20. Have played with the blx blade 98 since they came out. But the new ones didn't score very well on the review. The blx blade did vey well when reviewed. I may have to go with the APD 2013, or buy some blx blades now that they are on sale.

My experience with the new 16 x 19 blade 98 was the similar to the TW reviewers. Had more power, but less control. Serve was increased about 10 MPG, but that was the only improvement. The paint job was much improved, but when hitting ground strokes it reminded me of a Babolat frame. Stiffer than the old model Blade and similar to the radical. I put my new one up for sale and picked up a new BLX 98 Blade at a good price.

It was one of the rackets on the try list, the 16 x 15 Wilson will be next.

My experience with the new 16 x 19 blade 98 was the similar to the TW reviewers. Had more power, but less control. Serve was increased about 10 MPG, but that was the only improvement. The paint job was much improved, but when hitting ground strokes it reminded me of a Babolat frame. Stiffer than the old model Blade and similar to the radical. I put my new one up for sale and picked up a new BLX 98 Blade at a good price.

It was one of the rackets on the try list, the 16 x 15 Wilson will be next.

For me the older one is better, but I have not tried the new 18 x 20 model. I like control more than power, since I am a flat ball hitter and many of my ground strokes were going deep. Might be different if you are a spin player. Nice racket just not for my game.

I just hit with the new Blade 98 18x20. I owned the previous BLX blade 98 and here are my thoughts on how the new racquet compares to the previous version.

The new Blade 98 18x20 has less power, is easier to swing (lower swing weight), and feels more comfortable to hit with. Shots hit outside of the sweet spot on the previous version can be jarring at times and the new version improves on this. My biggest complaint with the previous version of the racquet is the power level. It has a bit more pop than I'd like (I'm use to playing with mid sized racquets and I like generating my own power).

The higher swing weight on the previous version makes the racquet unique. It feels kind of clunky, but it provides great plow and stability. I like the way the newer version swings and it feels more "fluid" and not as clunky as the previous version. Plowthrough doesn't feel as good on the new version compared to the previous version, but this is due to the swing weight differences.

Overall I think the newer Blade 98 18x20 is an upgrade compared to the previous version. If you thought the previous version had too much power and felt too clunky, I think you'll enjoy the newer version.

The Blade is heavier,more solid overall and is not flimsy at all compare to my Yonex Vcore 100s..
Serve was better and heavier,lots of power but still was easy to place them close to the lines.
Groundstrokes was great,good control but i had a little problem to find the lenght in the beginning,first power shots i made went way past the baseline,but it got better after a while.
Returns was great too,the only problem i had was at the net on volleys,that came fast,then i had some troubles to get the racquet in place fast enough due to the heavier weight and less HL than my usual racquet. However if i had time it was no problem at all.

I only played the racquet for 1 hour so with more time i bet the timing on volleys would be better.

Overall i liked this racquet,i would consider to switch to it,it really felt great,BUT i want to try the 93 version first wich my shop didnt have any in stock yet.
The 93 is heavier but more head light so i imagine the handling would be the same or even better,and with more control and less power,so i dont have to worry about overhitting as much.

Both my Yonex Vcore 100s and the Blade 98 is strung with Wilson sensation(16 if i remember right).

People keep talking about Wilson QC being terrible. Just going to share my recent experience.

Bought a new 2013 Blade 93 from TW and another from the pro shop in my club a few weeks later. Both have 16ga gut mains and Lxn Savage crosses and both have Dunlop gecko overgrips. The strung weights = 349g and 350g. Not really possible to get closer than that...

I bet if you go back to that shop and assuming they sell reasonable amount of those racquets,
new order or new batch will be completely off from what you own now. It can get pretty frustrating.
I also bet that batch numbers on your current racquets are fairly close